A diesel particulate filter (hereinafter referred to as DPF) which traps particulate matter contained in the exhaust gas of a diesel engine for a vehicle performs regeneration by burning the trapped particulate matter when the amount of trapped particulate matter reaches a certain level, and thus becomes able to trap particulate matter again.
Known methods for burning the particulate matter include a method of raising the temperature of the exhaust gas by fuel injection control, and a method of raising the temperature of the DPF using a heater.